Myth and folktales

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It can be gathered from the tale that Jarnik is the counterpart, or the twin brother, 
of Jurij. In some tales, Zeleni Jurij, or St. George, has the role of the Wolf Shepherd 
or the Master of the Wolves. People living in the vicinity of Karlovac used to tell that 
on St. George’s Day all wolves gathered in one place, waiting for St. George, who 
then arrived riding a fiery billy goat. Around Karlovac, people even believed that he 
appeared in the shape of a white wolf to allocate each wolf its own hunting ground 
(Kelemina 1930, no. 21/II). Jurij with a gun is mentioned in a folk song that has been 
preserved in a manuscript written by Anton Martin Slomšek and published by Ivan 
Grafenauer. The final, fifth verse goes like this:
[…] Again a fearsome beast appeared,
And there came Jurij with his gun.
He shot the mosquito in the small hole:
George got the mosquito; the mosquito got the lion,
The lion got the wolf, the wolf got the fox, the fox got the rabbit,
The rabbit got the cat, the cat got the mouse, and the mouse got the yellow wheat.
When, oh when, you peasant poor, when will you get rich?
28
In this song, which has been classified as a children’s song about animals, Jurij 
with a gun plays the role of a hunter hunting animals that in turn hunt one another. 
Anton Martin Slomšek added a handwritten note that this was one of the oldest songs 
in Kranjska. As frequently happens in folklore, a mythological character has been 
transplanted from an abandoned ritual, or from a ritual song, to children’s folklore.
In Ledenice in Gailtal, Kärnten, Austria, a folk custom was performed on St. 
George’s Day, which was described by Franz Koschier (1957, 862–880): 
After building a bonfire on a nearby hill, local lads also dug a grave for St. 
George next to it. Wrapped in straw, St. George lay in the grave covered with 
green pine branches. After a prayer, the lads tore down the hill, making a 
tremendous racket, with St. George in pursuit (Kuret 1989:262–265). 
Researchers believe that this custom exhibits characteristics of a buried and 
newly-awoken vegetation deity (Šmitek 2004: 132). In contrast Šmitek has also made 
a comparison between the myth about Zeleni Jurij and the constellation of Orion 
and with Early Medieval Slavic reliefs depicting Orion (2001). This similarity has 
also been pointed out by Vlado Nartnik (1995).
However, if we regard the folk custom and the narrative tradition about Zeleni 
Jurij as a common source, we can see that he is the young god – the son of Perun, and 
28 
Š I: no. 966; Grafenauer 1956: 197–202.

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that Marjetica (Vesna, Deva, in Croatia: Mare) is the young goddess – the daughter 
of Mokoš, and that the three figures: Zeleni Jurij, the dragon and Marjetica form 
another triangular form, repeating the principal Slavic myth. 
Nowadays, the customs and processions connected with Zeleni Jurij are being 
revived mostly by folklore groups that enact them, particularly in Bela Krajina (Eng. 
White Carniola), where the customs of celebrating St. George’s Day have been pre-
served longest.
MOTHER GODDESS, MOKOŠ
Almost all, even the oldest world religions,
29
 are based on the idea of the Great 
Mother, who may be either good or fearful, for example, the Phrygian Cybele, Atargis 
from Syria, Astarta from Phoenicia, the Sumerian Anana, the Babylonian Ishtar, 
the Balto-Polabian Živa, the Germanic Frigga and many others. Slavs worshipped 
Mokoš, a female deity of fertility, who was also the patron of female chores and craft, 
29 
For more on this see: Gimbutas 1989.
Zeleni Jurij/Green George in Bela Krajina, Maksim Gaspari

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especially spinning, weaving and also of music. Mokoš was the only female deity in 
Vladimir’s pantheon in Kiev. While the Old Church Slavonic root mok- denotes wet, 
damp, the root mot- denotes to coil, to spin; mótok, for instance, denotes a spinning 
wheel. Water and spinning held a central position in the cult of this deity whom 
the Russians also called Mat syra, denoting Damp Mother Earth. This female deity, 
who was connected with water and spinning, also had its more terrifying side that 
made her similar to Hekate from antiquity, the Greek Artemis, the Roman Diana, the 
Russian Jaga Baba, the German Frau Bercht, or the Slovene Pehtra Baba. Similar is 
also the tradition of Belestis or Belena, a Celtic deity from Noricum, a companion of 
Belin or Belenus.
30
 Belestis was the goddess of light bringing health and taking care 
of birth and development in the animal and human world.
 
The Slavs widely worshipped Mokoš, also called Mokóška, Mátoha, or Mátoga. 
Mokoš was (together with Perun and Veles) a female deity who played an prominent 
role in the principal Slavic myth (Ivanov, Toporov 1983). She was also a Slavic deity 
of cyclical circulation and renewal, fertility, protector of female chores, particularly 
of spinning, weaving, doing laundry and of music. 
Despite the fact that the great Mother Goddess evoked terror and fear, she was 
a brilliant goddess, often the companion or mother of the sun god, much like Isis 
in Ancient Egypt. Like Isis, Mokoš also practiced sorcery and taught people how to 
bake bread, spin, weave and heal others. In Slovenian folktales, these skills were the 
domain of female supernatural beings the sredozimke, i.e. midwinter deities: Zlata 
Baba (Golden Woman), called also Baba, and Pehtra Baba (Frau Percht); the latter is 
still very much alive in folk customs. The pehtre roam around in the period between 
Christmas and Epiphany; therefore, in the period of twelve nights at pernahti, accom-
panied by the divja jaga (wild hunt). According to folk beliefs, they bring brightness, 
light and fertility, which is also evident from their name. The name Pehtra has been 
derived from Old German perachtum, meaning that which glitters.
31
 In the 1858, 
Peter Hicinger wrote the following about Pehtra Baba:
Pehtra Baba roams around on the Karavanke Mountains, strolls around the 
mountain tops above the Kamnik Alps with a golden bucket in her hand.
Maks Pleteršnik published in his dictionary the following narrative about 
Matoha, who is akin to Mokoš or Mokoška:
Slovenes are familiar with a scarecrow called Matoha or Matoga. The name 
denotes the great, or the old, mother. That is all I know of that (Kelemina 
1930: no. 191). 
30 
More on Belin or on Belbog see: Mikhailov 1994 and Šašel Kos 2001: 9–16.
31 
Kuret1969: 209–239; Kuret 1994: 241–248.

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